


Another Reason

by solarwitchwrites



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Homophobia, M/M, Not from any of the good guys tho, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 08:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarwitchwrites/pseuds/solarwitchwrites
Summary: Asta sees something he wasn’t meant to. But discovering Yami and Finral’s secret is just one more reason that Asta won’t give up until he becomes Wizard King.





	Another Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Still not the YamiFin longfic that’s lurking in bits and pieces on my hard drive. But I was rewatching the series to take notes for it and it suddenly struck me that Yami loses his temper a lot when he’s around Finral flirting with people. Given that we regularly see into Finral’s head in canon I highly doubt this is the reason, but I’m a shipper, so here we are. Then Asta wrote himself in because I needed an outside observer.

It was still dark when Asta snapped awake. For a second, the lack of pain in his arms was disorienting. Then he remembered. 

_Witch’s Forest. The Queen’s healing. The demon. ___

__And the extra energy he’d felt coursing through his veins every night of the handful since, making it harder to get to sleep and waking him earlier. Asta grinned at the ceiling. The effect would probably fade, but for now, it looked like he could fit in some extra training once he got the cleaning done._ _

__A glance out the window showed only the barest lightening of the sky in the east. Asta got dressed as silently as he could, then slipped noiselessly into the hall. He’d better start on the lower levels, it’d be rude (and a bit dangerous) to disturb his squadmates at this hour-_ _

__Voices._ _

__Asta froze, ears pricking. Who else would be awake at this hour? He checked his first impulse to call out; that low rumble was probably Yami, but Gauche was just as testy first thing in the morning, especially if you’d interrupted a dream about Marie. Instead, Asta tiptoed towards the balcony overlooking the main hall. He looked down._ _

__There was a single candle lit on the table by the couches. Its flickering light revealed Yami and Finral seated side by side; not unusual, but Asta wondered why they were sitting so close. Even when the couches were filled, there was enough space that nobody got squashed. But despite the two being alone, Finral was tucked against Yami’s side, their legs touching from thigh to knee._ _

__Asta was still blinking at that when he realized that Finral was talking. This close, Asta could make out the words._ _

__“-can’t do that tomorrow, Yami. You… you can’t.” Finral sounded serious and tired in a way Asta had never heard from him, not even after the fight with Vetto or the Queen. Yami sighed._ _

__“Think I don’t know that? I just…” He sighed again, and ran a hand through his hair, aggravated. “I wasn’t exactly centered, alright? I almost watched you die, I wasn’t up to your usual routine.”_ _

Asta still didn’t make a sound, but he felt a sudden surge of guilt. Back in the Underwater Temple, Yami hadn’t even hinted afterward that he’d been anything other than fine. He’d been their unflappable captain. But it felt obvious now that nobody would have been. Asta should have- 

__The thought derailed when Finral put a hand on Yami’s leg. It was clearly intended for comfort and Yami reacted accordingly, relaxing back against the couch, but something about it seemed… off. Didn’t most people comfort a friend by putting a hand on their shoulder…?_ _

__“I know,” Finral’s voice was still tired, but gentler. “But you scared the liver out of those ladies. Everybody might think it’s because you’re a legendary hardass and I’m a slacker and you wanted to get to Kiten quickly, but if it happens again at the Star Festival…”_ _

Yami scaring off those women Finral had been flirting with at the capitol _wasn’t_ because Yami was a legendary hardass and Finral was a slacker? That interaction had seemed pretty cut and dried to Asta. A thread of bewilderment joined the guilt. 

__Yami ground his teeth. “I fucking hate this,” he hissed, glaring at the candle like it had personally offended him. His left arm was draped loosely over the couch behind Finral, his right at his side; both fists were clenched. The venom and bitterness in his voice knocked Asta for a loop yet again. Yami hadn’t sounded like that fighting Licht or interrogating Gueldre or any other time Asta had seen him visibly pissed. It suddenly occurred to Asta that this was, in fact, a private conversation. Which he was eavesdropping on._ _

__But Finral had flinched at the tone as well, pulling his hand back and looking away. The pain on his face rooted Asta to the spot._ _

__“Yami- if you found someone else- you wouldn’t have to put up with-” The sheer hopelessness in Finral’s voice tightened Asta’s throat even as the words themselves confused and alarmed him. Finral couldn’t honestly think Yami would kick him out of the Bulls, right? Or that they’d be better off without him-_ _

__Yami seemed to share Asta’s sense of urgency. His eyes snapped to Finral, his left arm leaving the back of the couch to curl around Finral’s waist instead, pulling him even closer._ _

__“Fuck that. You’re worth it.” His voice left no room for argument. Asta expected Finral to startle- either at the unusually blunt praise or the grabbing- but instead Finral relaxed, leaning against Yami’s shoulder. Oddly enough, seeing them like that was familiar._ _

__Despite the different position, Asta abruptly realized he’d seen Yami and Finral embrace before. Right after Yami killed Vetto. He’d remembered it because, aside from a penchant for ruffling hair and grabbing people’s heads, it was the only time Asta had seen Yami touch anyone._ _

__The thought tugged loose another: Finral didn’t really touch people either. He’d helped the injured at that cave in Nairn, he and Vanessa had given Asta that bone-crushing (literally) hug right after they’d all survived Vetto, but other than that, he-_ _

_____-Yami pausing partway through a portal; Finral, expression annoyed, muttering about mana waste, giving him a shove to get moving-_  
_-Yami and Finral, side by side, Finral’s arm brushing Yami’s as he called up his grimoire to prepare to intervene at Asta’s initiation-_  
_-Finral touching Yami’s shoulder to get his attention, completely ignoring an aura that sent most people running-_

__-really only touched Yami._ _

__Asta felt his thoughts twisting like a key in a lock, as if one more click would open the door and make sense of the scene in front of him._ _

__“You’re worth it,” Yami repeated, voice softer. This time Finral had a flicker of the reaction Asta had expected, a shudder running through his frame at the words, his eyes closing. “I just wish you’d realize your family isn’t,” Yami added. The anger in his voice was banked now, more like resignation, but Asta could still hear it. Finral just twisted further in, shifting to press against Yami’s chest instead of his shoulder._ _

__Asta’s brow furrowed. He remembered his brief encounter with Langris at Kiten. Finral’s whole family wasn’t like that jerk, were they?_ _

__Finral sighed, breaking Asta out of his speculation. “I just don’t want to hurt them.” There was something dangerous in the way Yami narrowed his eyes, something that told Asta that Yami did not share Finral’s sentiments. The intensity made Asta briefly incredulous that Langris was still breathing._ _

__But the next second it was gone. Yami let out a breath, then reached out with his free hand to touch Finral’s jaw, tilting his head up. Something- the candlelight, maybe- made Yami’s features look softer._ _

__“Hey. Look at me.” Finral opened his eyes and met Yami’s gaze. His own careworn expression lightened, as if he could see the softness too. For a second they stayed like that, as if the whole world was nothing but a circle of light and the two of them. Then Yami spoke again._ _

“Don’t worry about it. Run your act, I’ll deal.” A smile- a slightly smug one to Asta’s eyes- quirked the corner of Yami’s mouth. “ _I’m_ the only one you come home with.” Then, smooth as his sword draw- like he’d done this a hundred times, a thousand- he kissed Finral. 

__Asta’s mind went completely blank aside from a faint echo. It sounded like a door opening._ _

__Finral's tension melted as he leaned in just as easily. One hand reached up to tangle in Yami’s shirt as he pressed himself even closer. Apparently not satisfied with this, Yami shifted his grip to Finral’s hip and hauled him all the way into his lap._ _

__A mortified noise- thankfully strangled by shock, because Asta suddenly realized that he was dead meat if Yami realized he was there- joined the echo in Asta’s head. An instant later Yami broke the kiss._ _

__“Come on. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” Finral muttered something about it already technically being tomorrow, but obligingly twitched his fingers, a portal opening low by the couch. Yami didn’t even bother to stand; he just rolled both of them straight into it. There was the creak of bed springs, a huff of laughter from Finral, and then the portal winked shut._ _

__Asta was left alone on the balcony, the only movement in the room the flickering of the still-lit candle. Without any conscious input from his brain, Asta walked downstairs, across the common room, and out the door. Even the fresh air didn’t break his concentration._ _

__But rather than what he’d just seen, a much older memory was playing in his head. He’d been… five? Six. Probably six._ _

__It was the day after Imogen and Dale’s wedding. As one of the church’s orphans, cleaning up from weddings, funerals, baptisms, and everyday services was a regular chore. Today it was just him and Sister Lily; Yuno, since he could, was sweeping the lawn with his wind magic. But cleaning without magic was dull, and Asta’s mind was wandering as he wiped down the pews. Still, he couldn’t have said what made him turn to Sister Lily and ask, “Who directed the choir when Miss Yvette and Miss May got married?” Because she’d directed at every single wedding Asta had ever been to (three that he remembered, but Yuno swore there’d been a fourth), but she couldn’t have been directing if she’d been the bride, right?_ _

__Asta was startled when the idle curiosity made Sister Lily almost drop her broom. Her eyes suddenly sad, she motioned Asta to sit next to her. Worried that he’d said something wrong, he went, an apology on the tip of his tongue, but Sister Lily spoke first._ _

__“Asta… Asta, why do you think Miss Yvette and Miss May are married?” The question caught Asta off guard; he’d never really thought about it, he just… knew that they were._ _

__After a few seconds of thought, though, he had the evidence. “They live together. And they walk through town holding hands. And… and they look at each other the way Mr. and Mrs. Marcus do, and the way Mr. and Mrs. Smythe do, and the way Imogen and Dale did yesterday…” Asta probably would have kept going, but Sister Lily put a gentle hand on his shoulder. She still looked so sad. Why was Sister Lily sad?_ _

__“That’s right, Asta. Miss Yvette and Miss May do all of those things. But they’re not married.”_ _

__Asta frowned. “But why not? Miss Yvette loves weddings, and weddings are important! You stand up and say you love someone forever, and everyone is happy for you. Someday, when I’m Wizard King, I’m coming back and marrying Sister Lily.”_ _

__For once, this proclamation was met without comment. Instead, Sister Lily just kept looking sad._ _

__“Asta… Miss Yvette and Miss May love each other. They probably would love a wedding. But in Clover kingdom, only a man and a woman can get married to each other.”_ _

__“Why?” It seemed completely unfair. Asta wondered if that was why Sister Lily was sad; she’d always made sure that he and Yuno always got equal portions at dinner, so he knew she didn’t like unfairness._ _

__Sister Lily looked thoughtful for a moment, like she did when she was trying to figure out how to explain something new in a book on lesson days. Finally, she said, “Because only men and women can have children together. In places like Hage, we all share, so if the person who inherits a shop or a field is the child of a friend, or an apprentice, it doesn’t matter. It’s normal.” Asta nodded along, because he already knew that. Imogen wasn’t the blacksmith’s daughter, but everybody knew that she was going to inherit the forge because she was his best apprentice._ _

__Sister Lily kept talking. “But nobles- and richer commoners in the city- they care about lineage. They want their possessions to stay with their blood family only, and they want to improve their magic by arranging matches with other powerful families. If they let their children have marriages that couldn’t end in grandchildren, that wouldn’t work. So a long time ago, they decided that only men and women could marry.”_ _

Asta scowled. “That’s stupid. And mean. They should let Miss Yvette and Miss May get married. And don’t they want their kids to be happy? What if they want to get married like that? I’m not gonna care if Yuno marries a guy just because he won’t have a kid with cool magic.” Asta had never really imagined Yuno getting married at all, but if he did, Asta was going to stand for him the way Dale’s brother Bart had stood for Dale and then tell embarrassing stories at the reception. That was what family _did_. 

Sister Lily suddenly sniffled and caught Asta in a fierce hug. 

“I know. You have a kind heart, Asta.” Composing herself, she pulled away a little. 

“But those laws are why Miss Yvette and Miss May aren’t married.” 

Asta tilted his head in confusion as a thought struck him. “Wait… if Miss Yvette and Miss May live together and love each other and aren’t gonna marry anybody else, don’t the nobles’ kids just do that?” But Sister Lily shook her head. She glanced out the church doors, her eyes soft as she looked out over their little village. 

“It’s like I said. Places like Hage are different. Everybody here knows about Miss Yvette and Miss May, and no one says anything. But in the cities, Miss Yvette and Miss May would have to hide. No one would shop at their bakery-” Asta made an inarticulate noise of protest, because even Father agreed that Miss May’s pastries should be served in Heaven, but Sister Lily kept talking- “and they’d say awful things about them. If they were nobles, their family might disown them.” Sister Lily’s mouth twisted, more angry than sad, as she added, “Being with someone like that isn’t technically illegal, because nobles have their secrets too. But doing it openly… even that person’s family would be shamed and mocked. Particularly for nobles, reputation is everything.” 

There was something cold and hard settling in Asta’s stomach. It reminded him of the night he’d attacked a full grown man to get back Yuno’s pendant. Almost ten years later, standing in a forest hundreds of miles from Hage, the same feeling still straightened his back and filled his lungs. With a gesture, he called up his swords, stalking further away from base, towards the clearing he’d staked out for training. 

Miss Yvette and Miss May’s kind faces blurred together with Yami’s resigned anger and Finral’s hopelessness, with the quiet, warm look they’d shared right before the kiss. 

Asta started his drills. This was just one more reason for him not to give up. 

_When I become Wizard King… When I become Wizard King, Miss Yvette and Miss May and Captain Yami and Finral won’t have to hide._

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback encouraged!


End file.
